


Clever Girl

by Vennat



Category: A Midsummer Night's Dream - All Media Types, The Odyssey - Homer
Genre: Crossover, Gen, POV Helena
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-16
Updated: 2019-12-16
Packaged: 2021-02-25 21:02:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 674
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21821890
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vennat/pseuds/Vennat
Summary: Helena wakes up as Penelope. She manages to fend for herself in a very odd way.(written as my final for my mythology course)
Relationships: Helena & Athena
Kudos: 1





	Clever Girl

**Author's Note:**

> I got the chance to place any character from anything we'd read in class into anything else we'd read in class for my final. I had so much fun with this. 
> 
> (And also, I made an A)

Helena knows, with great certainty, that she does not belong here. Here, is a beautiful bed that seems to be carved straight from a huge tree sprouting straight up from the packed dirt floor. She blinks around. Last she knew, she was in the forests outside of Athens, running from those  _ scoundrels  _ Lysander and Demetrius.

Her previous anger returns. How  _ dare  _ they try and trick her, insulting her by pretending to be in love with her. She screams shortly in frustration, sweeping off the bed-that-is-not-her-own. This is probably another trick from those infuriating boys! Well, no matter how they try, they will  _ not  _ be deceiving her again. She darts to the doorway, peeking out of it. There isn’t anyone around, and so she hurries down the rough stone hallways, half-expecting Lysander or Demetrius to be laughing at her every time she rounds a corner. 

As she turns one last corner, she finds herself in a rough doorway leading to a sort of small courtyard. Tables fill the floor of the room, filled in turn with loud, red-faced men. The tops of the tables are filled with flatbreads, meats, and fruits, and the men gorge themselves on them. 

“Penelope!” Several of them cry excitedly, catching sight of her. They clink their cups against one another, wine sloshing over the rims, and laugh boisterously. Helena frowns severely.

“I know not what Lysander and Demetrius have promised you for your compliance, but it cannot be worth my wrath!” 

The laughing and cheering peters out. After a few moments, a man stands, his compatriots jostling him and talking in hushed voices as he does so. He shoots her a beatific smile.

“Penelope, you--” Helena cut him off, screeching in frustration. She stamped her bare feet against the dirt floor futilely. 

“Stop calling me that! I find no amusement in your masculine tricks, playing with my feelings as you do!” 

The man stares at her for a moment, before sinking into his chair with a confused expression. 

“ _ No!”  _ Helena practically screams, pointing at him. The man jolted. 

“Up! Up, up, get up!” The man scrambled to his feet warily. “I’ve told you to  _ cease  _ this cruel joke. Go! Begone from here!” The man looked vaguely panicked. 

“But- but- I’m a guest here! You, you can’t kick me out!”

“ _ Go!”  _ Helena demanded, with all the righteousness of someone who was rich, beautiful, privileged, and  _ knew it.  _

The man left. 

There was silence in the courtyard as Helena stood there, still steaming. Then, they broke into quiet conversations, and she stood there, unsure of what to do with herself before another brave soul stood up. He gestured to the huge, barely started tapestry off to the side. 

“Weave for us, won’t you, Penelope?” 

“I am not she that you seek!” Cried Helena, furious. “I will not weave for you! I will not do anything for you! All of you, go, leave this place, and leave me be!” 

There was a general outcry, similar to the first man’s, but Helena, already feeling tricked and humiliated, simply pointed to the exit, face thunderous. 

The men seemed shocked as they left. But still, they left-- all, that is, except for one man, slight and draped in a drab brown robe. 

“Can you not hear, Grandfather? Everyone has been asked to leave, and you must do so also.”

The old man chuckled.

“I do not think you were  _ asking,  _ dear.” He looked up, and Helena was struck by his eyes, silver as a coin. “How… clever _ ,  _ you are, to see through their intentions after such a short time. I have always loved to see one so clever.” 

“Oh,  _ clever!”  _ Cried Helena in despair. “One is only ever called  _ clever  _ when they are too  _ ugly  _ to be anything else!”

The old man stared at her in shock for a moment, before recovering. “Yes,” he said “I do think it is time for you to be back where you belong. 

He reached up and tapped her forehead. The world fell away in a dizzying spiral of silver. 

**Author's Note:**

> Whoop whoooooooop please comment I'd love to know what you think!
> 
> find me on twit @vennatfinn, tumblr @Vennat


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